Emote, Eat and Take Your Vitamins

Emotions are not emergencies. Deep Breath and Repeat.

The past two weeks have been chock full o' emotionally charged dates. There was the anniversary of a traumatic event that changed the course of my life and the anniversary of the day (years later) that I decided to stop escaping every emotion by any means necessary. I got through the tough day without doing anything to make it worse, which was a feat. I let the memories surface. I felt the fear, anger and pain and I did my best to let it go. Then the happier date came along and I felt the gratitude, humility and the hope that was deserved. Apparently feelings don't kill me and sometimes they even make me all warm and fuzzy!

Before- 8 months prego w/ Jazz and After- Last weekend at Humpy's Great Alaskan Alehouse gig.
I'm excited about the muscle definition in my arms. Carrying two babes has an upside!

The worst thing I did was some emotional eating but I've forgiven myself. :) Have you ever had a Fast Break candy bar?! It's like Mr. Snickers and Ms. Reese's knocked boots and had the most glorious baby ever! And I ate 3 of their babies...

My diet is still 90% Paleo 10% shitty sugar. I'm considering doing Balanced Bites 21 Day Sugar Detox or The Whole 30. Have you done either? Any suggestions?
I've been asked a lot lately what I eat so here are some pics from this week:

Breakfast-Banana (I have to force them down. I can't stand the texture but they're so good nutritionally. Sigh.) Steak strips w/ peppers, onions and asparagus and of course, COFFEE!

Love hydrating with Coconut Water!

I'm a big advocate of supplements! Most of us have deficiencies we aren't aware of that are bringing down our quality of life. I learned so much from the book, "Depression Free, Naturally" by Joan Mathew Larson. I notice a dip in my mental state when I stop taking B vitamins. D is an essential which I already preached about here. Iodine, Iron, Calcium, Potassium and Magnesium are my other dailies. I've recently upped my Flax intake to help with my Omegas since I'm allergic to Fish. And after most meals we take Papaya Enzymes to help with digestion. (Pregnant ladies, papaya enzymes are a life saver for heart burn.)

What supplements do you find work best? 

We're kind of a big deal...

Eric and I were "Interrogated" this week by the Anchorage Press, the coolest news publication in town that all the indie kids dig. It was awesome to talk about our lives as musicians, spouses, parents, and more! For those of you out of town, my husband and I gig around town a few times a week as a badass funk/soul/jazz/cuban/pop influenced cover band. For those of you in town here's a link to the gig calendar. Come check it out. We have a blast!

We're finishing up our first album and honing in our duo act. It's gone from me on vocals and Eric on keys to both of us on vocals, keys, guitar and a few more surprises I don't want to reveal yet. The album will be out in time for this holiday season. We just pre-sold the first one yesterday! You can also "like" our Facebook Page, if you're into that kinda thing.

Thanks for all the local (and global) music support! It's awesome to live a dream. :)

4 Months Primal Check-In!

Current results since going PRIMAL!

That's a picture from yesterday. Jazz is a few days over 4 months. So with almost 4 months of eating a Paleo Diet (plus lots of added sugar binges) and 2 months of sporadic Primal Workouts I'm already seeing and feeling GREAT results!

My husband is doing this all with me and yesterday he flexed...YEAH BABY! I was pretty turned on, not gonna lie.

Lyric is the only one in the family that's not eating paleo since he's allergic to most meats and some veggies...and some fruits...and some nuts. Poor little dude! Jazz is thriving on my paleo breast milk though!

The MDA Primal Blueprint Challenge started this week so go to the website and join in! I can't wait to see how I feel and look in another 4 months! Lean mean fat burning machine! As someone who battled bulimia for 10 years, eating well and feeling strong is an amazing accomplishment that I'm really proud of and incredibly thankful for.

Will you join the challenge?

A Typical Day of My Paleo Eats

Thank you Jenny for my first Paleo Cookbook, "Well Fed" by Melissa Joulwan! Paleo recipes for people who love to eat. Grain, Legume, Dairy and Sugar Free. The layout is amazing and I can't wait to share my favorite finds!

I've had a few people ask me lately what I eat, so here's a day in the life of my tummy:

Breakfast - 3 eggs w/ veggies and sometimes bacon or turkey bacon. And Coffee w/ Coconut or Almond Milk and occasionally a few drops of liquid Stevia.

Snack - Nuts (Pistachios or Macadamia lately) and Dried Fruit made in our Dehydrator. Water.

Lunch - Big Ass Salad! Tons of lettuce, kale and/or spinach. Veggie-Palooza and sometimes chicken.

Dinner - Veggie, Meat Combo. Beef, Chicken, or Steak w/ Peppers, Avocado, Asparagus, Any and All Veggies I can find in our fridge! Coconut Water.

Late Night Snack - Hopefully I'll omit this someday but lately I want sweets all the time so I've been indulging in Larabar's uber. Not the healthiest but much better than what I really crave, frosting. ha!

What are your favorite Paleo Cookbooks?

Vitamin D and some Burpees...

I just finished reading The Vitamin D Cure by Dowd and Stafford. First of all, I'm so excited that I read an entire book and even learned something in the process. I was voted "Most Avid Reader" as a youngin' but when adulthood rolled around I had "better" things to do. Ugh. Bring on the books, baby!

I don't have the energy to re-cap the entire book but here are the highlights:

HOLY SHIT DUDE, TAKE YOUR VITAMIN D!

Supplements (at least 2500 IU if you're an AK peep!)
Diet (Cut cheese, grains and most dairy)
Exercise (Moderate Level Walks and Muscle Building Moves)
oh, an SUNSHINE!

Vitamin D is so incredibly vital to our health in ways I never knew. Correcting your levels can completely diminish aches and pains, fibromyalgia, depression, seasonal depression, fatigue, obesity, gout, and so much more! The book goes into great detail about your risks for low D based on your ethnicity, location and genes.



It was also personally awesome to read another health book that totally mirrors our new primal lifestyle. Yet again, the pro's are seeing the facts that grains and dairy are not only not necessary for us but they are detrimental to our health, vitality and longevity! Plus the workouts were right on par with the Primal way!

The new wallpaper on my phone. Motivation!

Speaking of workouts, I'm getting buff. Not super buff yet but I just had two kids back to back and my body looks better than it's ever looked before. That's pretty freakin' crazy and encouraging! I'm totally out of shape which just feels like a great starting point. My diet and exercise aren't perfect but I'm doing great 85% of the time and right now that works for me.

Just tried some Burpees for the first time. Ouch. If you don't know what that is then check out my favorite fitness chick on youtube bust some out.

Until next time...

21 Day Total Body Transformation...Hopefully

Eric and I have been transitioning into a totally Primal diet (hunter-gatherer foods) since the birth of our 2nd babe three months ago. Cutting out grains was surprisingly easy for both of us. He's one of those annoying people who can go on health kicks as a behavioral experiment or just for the hell of it and stay 100% dedicated. For years he's wanted to cut agricultural grains knowing that they were the introduction of a vast amount of health problems for our world. I have babies with allergies so I decided to cut common allergens while nursing in the hopes that my daughter doesn't have to go through to agony my son did by being allergic to everything I was ingesting. Wheat and Corn were cut so when we got into the Paleo Diet there were just a few more grains to exclude.

Last week we started the Primal Blueprint's 21 Day Total Body Transformation: A Complete, Step-by-Step Gene Reprogramming Action Plan. We feel awesome! We are 6 days in. Eric's lost 5 lbs, I've lost 2. But more importantly we're getting buff and the eating is energizing! I no longer have a food coma after any meals! 

Our Workouts:

Circuits of - Planks, Reverse Planks, Push ups (Chest touching the ground), and Pull Ups. 

Grok Ball & Sprinting - We throw a 10 lb medicine ball as far as we can, sprint to it, throw it again, sprint, and so forth until we our sweating bullets and cant lift our arms. 

Walking, Stretching and Playing!

Go Barefoot! Eric's Vibram Five Fingers and My NB Minimus.

Our Typical Day of Eating:

Breakfast: 3 Egg Omelet or Scramble with celery, onion, bell pepper, cucumber and bacon or turkey bacon.

Lunch: Big Ass Salad. Romaine, Spinach, Kale, veggies listed above plus avocado and chicken. Olive Oil out of our Misto w/ salt and pepper as dressing.

Snacks: Macadamia Nuts. Fruit Roll Ups we make with our new Dehydrator using berries from the yard. Homemade Sweet Potato Fries & Chia Seed Muffin (Blaze only since I'm trying to up my calorie and carb intake while I'm still nursing.).

Dinner: Meat and Veggies. Steak and asparagus is my favorite.

Dessert: Dark Chocolate. 85% (Yuck. Eric's into it but my taste buds aren't there yet.) Coconut milk ice cream. Fruit.

Beverages: Water, Coffee, Tea, Coconut Milk, Nut Milks, Hemp Milk and occasional Red Wine. I don't drink but Eric was on board for a lifestyle change that included dark chocolate and red wine. That seemed sustainable for the long haul. :)

Lyric helping us pick raspberries in the backyard.

I'll report back at the end of the 21 days. At that time we'll be continuing this Primal Living but this is just a nice hardcore jump start. Maybe by the end of 3 weeks I'll have stopped my small sugar binges every few days. *sigh* Still it's progress. Now when I eat sugar I get shaky and dizzy so clearly my body is rejecting shitty foods and the insulin spikes they produce. Yeah baby!

Check out the Primal Blueprint and the 21 Day Total Body Transformation Guide! Living Primally is the cure to our ills. It all makes so much sense and our health has already improved as a result of tossing out the "conventional wisdom" of our food pyramid that's led to all time high obesity rates. Go Primal! 

My First Time Using a Recipe vs. A Microwave

Cooking, cleaning, and caring never came easy to me. I decided at young age that I was going to be rich and famous so I would of course have a cook, maid, chauffeur, masseuse, etc. That's still the plan but in the meantime I think I'd like a more serene living space. And it might be okay if I'm able to feed my children...

I've been having a great time keeping up with Paleo, Fitness, and Healthy Lifestyle Blogs. This week I tried out two recipes. That's two more than I've ever attempted before. 

Both recipes are Grain, Dairy and Sugar Free.

First I made Coconut Flour "Oatmeal" from Katie Did's blog. (She is an awesome Paleo Eater, Crossfit Monster and Sweet Photographer.)

The only variation I made was to add ground flax seed and honey as a topping and I omitted the peaches. I've been having the toughest time avoiding sugar but this was a sweet treat and I even felt like I was eating carbs again. I don't miss them but it was a nice texture. 

That was so much fun that I decided to try something a bit more ambitious. Protein Thin Mint Cookies from the awesome sisters of Purely Twins. I used Variation #5 No Carob. I struggled with this creation a bit. I decided to buy new measuring cups because I rely heavily on them! The cookies didn't turn out that great since I kept screwing with the amounts of ingredients. Instead of throwing in the towel I got creative and turned the runny mint chocolate soup into balls by adding Crunchy Flax Cereal, Flax Seed and Shredded Coconut. Voila! Delicious!

Making treats in the kitchen turned out to be a fun, calming, enlightening experience for me! For the first time I was able to hear both my husband and mom say, "Wow Blaze, that actually tastes good!" Maybe one day I'll be so good that they'll take out the "actually"... 

Do you enjoy cooking? Where do you find your favorite recipes?